Equity markets in Toronto slipped a mite on Thursday after hitting a near 16-month high Wednesday, as gains in financial stocks helped offset mining stocks weighed by a pullback in gold prices.
The S&P/TSX Composite faded 21.78 points to greet noon at 14,818.71
The Canadian dollar plummeted 0.48 cents to 75.78 cents U.S.
Health-care concerns notched the largest gains as Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc advanced 1.1% to $29.28.
Bank of Montreal rose 0.4% to $85.61, and National Bank of Canada gained 0.5% to $46.50.
Barrick Gold Corp fell 2.3% to $22.17, as gold prices turned lower after three days of gains.
The energy group slipped as oil slipped back after a strong rally, although several smaller companies in the group gained after reporting quarterly earnings.
Altagas Ltd advanced 3.2% to $34.59 after posting strong quarterly earnings.
Trucking and logistics whiz Mullen Group Ltd gained 4.7% to $17.75, having reported quarterly earnings after the bell on Wednesday.
Suncor Energy Inc was among the most influential gainers, up 0.7% to $38.66.
On the economic beat, Statistics Canada reported this morning that those drawing regular employment insurance totaled 563,000 in August, down 3% from the previous month.
This decrease followed a 5% increase in July, when legislative changes to the EI program came into effect. On a year-over-year basis, the number of beneficiaries was up 23,700, or 4.4%.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange dropped 5.67 points to 783.73
All but three of the 12 TSX subgroups were negative, with consumer staples down 0.7%, telecoms off 0.5%, and consumer discretionaries sliding 0.4%.
The three gainers were health-care, ahead 0.9%, energy, up 0.3%, and financials, squeezing up 0.03%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks traded mixed midday Thursday as oil prices fell sharply, while investors parsed through key U.S. economic data, a key European Central Bank decision on interest rates and a slew of corporate earnings.
The Dow Jones Industrials maintained gains of 18.83 points to 18,221.45, with Travelers leading decliners and American Express leading advancers.
The S&P 500 dropped 1.05 points to 2,143.24, with telecommunications leading nine sectors lower and health care and utilities the only risers.
The NASDAQ composite index slipped 21.78 points to 5,240.26
In corporate news, earnings season carried on, as Dow components Travelers and Verizon both posted quarterly results. Travelers beat estimates on both earnings and revenues, while Verizon missed on revenue while beating on profits.
As of 9 a.m. ET Thursday, 79% of the 99 S&P 500 components that had reported beat Wall Street consensus estimates on earnings, while 63% exceeded expectations on revenues
In U.S. economic news, weekly jobless claims rose by 13,000 to 260,000, but notched their 85th straight week coming in below 300,000, the longest period since 1970. Meanwhile, the Philadelphia Federal Reserve Business Index for October came in at 9.7, below September's 12.8.
Other economic data released Thursday included existing home sales, which rose 3.2% last month.
The ECB kept interest rates unchanged, as was widely expected. Facing high unemployment, weak growth and ultra low inflation, the ECB has provided extraordinary stimulus in recent years, cutting interest rates deep into negative territory and pushing the cost of credit to all-time lows, hoping to jump start growth.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury were unchanged, keeping yields at Wednesday’s 1.74%.
Oil prices lost $1.05 at $50.55 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices slipped $2.80 to $1,267.10 U.S. an ounce.
